On a stifling August night in 1906, Karl Bauer fired two shots at his second wife. His sixteen-year old daughter, Minna struggled to wrest the revolver from his hands and the shots went wild. Her father, believing that he had murdered, turned the gun on himself. The intended victim, the wicked step-mother, survived. He died. This true event serves as the fulcrum for the story. At ninety, Minna reveals this shameful secret to her own daughter, laying bare the mysterious pent-up anger between them. The story traces the lives of three generations marked by the impact of this violent act.
Set in a quiet village in New York's Mohawk valley during the burgeoning late 19th century, the personal dramas are played out against a backdrop of the rich political and historic events of the time; the rise of the labor movement and struggle for women's rights.
As a child, the author romanticized her mother's early life; imagining her orphaned, left in the care of a wicked stepmother. However, when her mother, aged ninety, revealed the entire shocking truth, the author's powerful imaginings surrounding these events became first a journal, then a memoir and eventually expanded into this novel. Ms. Chayes holds a bachelor of music degree, a degree in Interior and Environmental Design from UCLA and was writer and executive producer of a critically acclaimed documentary film about her renowned teacher of piano, Karl Ulrich Schnabel.
As a child, the author romanticized her mother’s early life; imagining her orphaned, left in the care of a wicked stepmother. However, the actual shocking truth was revealed when at age ninety, her mother confessed the shameful secret: that she had witnessed her father’s attempt to murder her stepmother, and his ensuing violent suicide. The author’s powerful imaginings surrounding these events became first a personal journal and then expanded into a memoir and eventually into this novel.
Her fascination with writing is linked to her lifelong passion and involvement in music. As a teenager, she left her home in Niagara Falls to study piano in New York under the great pianist, Schnabel.She completed her bachelor of music degree and performed as chamber musician and soloist, and since her youth, has continued to teach piano. Through the years, she continued her deep association with her mentor, Karl Schnabel.
Ms. Chayes holds an ATCM degree from Toronto Conservatory, a bachelor of music degree, a degree in Interior and Environmental Design from UCLA and was writer and executive producer of a critically acclaimed documentary film about her renowned teacher of piano, Karl Ulrich Schnabel.
She lived in Africa for three years where her architect husband was involved in a design project. After his untimely death, she took a degree in interior design in order to continue his work. During these years of teaching, performing and film making, she was mother to three children and eventually, to seven stepchildren.
Later in life she was inspired to make a documentary film honoring her teacher, Schnabel. The film, ‘Con Brio’, premiered at the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts to high praise. It was through the experience of writing and producing the film that she discovered the powerful connection between the visual and the written word and also, importantly, the potent therapeutic value of the process of writing to free and illuminate the imagination. These insights inspired her to enroll in writing classes. Since then, and to this day, writing has become her daily joyful devotion. She is eighty-two years old and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Charles Dubin, a retired television director.
My Take on the Book
This book tells a tale that is wonderfully vivid. It portrays people in a true way and while some of the stories are sad and bittersweet, the picturs that that author shares lets you completely understand the hardship that immigrants endured. As a reader you are drawn into the story and you can imagine the sounds, tastes and sites of the village that the author shares. This is definitely a novel that is one that you will want to shae with others!
If this book sounds like one that you would like in your own collection you can find it on Amazon!
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